• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Looks like this guy will lose his place.

Whitewing

Well-known member
It´s called Mandioca and is located in the southern part of the eastern Venezuelan state of Monagas. From what I recall, it comprises something on the order of 20,000 hectars or about 50,000 acres and its only product is yuca.

When I was working for the National Guard for a year or so we met the owner, Juan Carlos Carpio, while investigating what he thought might be a kidnap attempt. At the time there was a lot of force being thrown at kidnap investigations and apparently they´re pretty rare in that part of the country, so off we went.

Anyway, based on our investigation, we decided it was his own employees just jacking him around....basically robbing him while he was in Caracas which is where his home is located and trying to make the crime look like a kidnap attempt.

After presenting our findings, he asked me to do a study of his farm, the facilities (which are extensive) and his employees with the goal of providing him with a security force of "outsiders" to watch the place and control its borders while he was away. I did the study, presented my findings and recommendations, and quoted a price for the services. I guess those prices scared him off because he decided to stay with what he had.

He's an interesting fellow, Juan Carlos. Speaks perfect English though he's Venezuelan by birth. Told me he was a Princeton graduate and I had no reason to doubt him. What I found odd about him during all of our conversations is that he didn´t seem to think like a Venezuelan, or more importantly, didn´t seem to understand many of the cultural issues related to the situation in which he found himself.

During our many conversations, he told me the governor of Monagas had long been trying to take control of his place from him because the land was underutilized. And honestly, at the time I was there something on the order of 90% of the place was not under cultivation or any apparent use as far as I could tell. I asked if this was government property or actual private property as there's plenty of both here. He claimed he was owner and that he had clear title documents dating back all the way to 1803.

As I´ve mentioned before, there's a big push by the Chavez government to make investments in food production. A number of large farms (some virtually abandonded) have been taken over by the government and split up into smaller parcels and handed over to families for farming. While I´m sure there are plenty of political issues surrounding Mandioca of which I´m not aware, this seemed to be the goal of the governor of that state.

Juan Carlos called me last week and said things had really heated up at Mandioca. He asked that I send Franciso, one of my employees, with him in order to investigate what was going on and also act as a body guard. He told me that INTI (the government entity that governs land use) was there, along with a couple of hundred civilians and the Army. When I heard that, I knew he was in deep doo.

Francisco called me at 4 AM last Friday and told me it was a total disaster......tractors plowing under what little yuca he had planted, people screaming at him to get off their land (now that INTI had given it to them) and even fighting with the police who had joined them to investigate what was going on.

Today I found the following article on line. It´s basically saying that there are problems with his title and that his place has been expropriated. I think he´s done.

Oh, and for the life of me I don´t understand why he never just did the smart thing and pay a few folks in Caracas (politicians, military, and even INTI) to squash anything like this when it tried to take place. Oh well.

I´ll post the article in Spanish for now. Don´t know how long it and the photograph will be linked, but here it is.

3374.jpg


http://www.laprensademonagas.info/Articulo.aspx?aid=3374#Escena_1

José Arístides Mendoza, coordinador general del Instituto Nacional de Tierras en Monagas (INTI), desmintió ayer en rueda de prensa, las afirmaciones realizadas por Juan Carlos Carpio, propietario de los terrenos donde funciona la Agropecuaria y Agroindustria Mandioca.
Mendoza alega que las personas que se apostaron en los terrenos desde el pasado martes 10 de noviembre, no son invasores, ya que a través de un procedimiento legal se efectuó un rescate de tierras, que según él, están 90% ociosas.

Aseguró además, que las 600 familias que están presentes en los terrenos fueron divididas en 10 colectivos y les serán adjudicadas 300 hectáreas a cada uno. Esas tierras están improductivas y lo que hicimos fue totalmente apegado a la ley", agregó.

El titular de ese despacho mencionó que gracias a un estudio minucioso, se pudo comprobar que los terrenos no son propiedad privada, sino de origen y dominio público. "Pronto, con la colaboración de los agricultores, empezaremos a producir en estas tierras valdías", expresó.
Por su parte, el presidente ejecutivo de Mandioca, Juan Carlos Carpio, alega que se está cometiendo una arbitrariedad y que sus tierras están siendo invadidas.

Carpio indicó que posee documentos de propiedad desde el primer dueño, en el año 1.803 hasta la actualidad, por lo cual tiene pruebas contundentes para demostrar su titularidad.
 

andybob

Well-known member
Broke Cowboy said:
Another version of what took place in Africa

BC

Only in Africa it wasn't the underutilised farms that were invaded, but the well developed ones. On many occasions, when vacant farms were offered, with offers of help from established farmers, to assist by ploughing etc, the "poor disadvantaged" refused to take them on.
 

Whitewing

Well-known member
andybob said:
Broke Cowboy said:
Another version of what took place in Africa

BC

Only in Africa it wasn't the underutilised farms that were invaded, but the well developed ones. On many occasions, when vacant farms were offered, with offers of help from established farmers, to assist by ploughing etc, the "poor disadvantaged" refused to take them on.

Excellent point Andybob and if anyone knows what took place there, it´s you.

Interestingly, about an hour after I posted this thread and left for the ranch, Juan Carlos called me. He told me that his employees were being allowed entrance to his office and shop facilities, that nothing had been touched there, and that the main area of activity of the "squatters" was in an area that was not in production. He did say that some of his planted yuca crop had been damaged though as they moved in and out of the area.

He´s asked the court system to help him out and plans on making an attempt to oust the squatters next week. Not sure how it will all pan out, but I´ll keep those of you who are interested posted.
 
Top